Power must be decentralised in Zimbabwe: Zanu-PF

Harare, Nov 22 (IANS) Zimbabwe’s ruling party Zanu-PF would seek to decentralise power following the resignation of embattled President Robert Mugabe, a spokesman said.

Kennedy Mandaza, who represents the party in neighbouring South Africa, pointed out on Tuesday that one of the resolutions emerging from the ZANU-PF Central Committee’s recent meeting called for eliminating the centralisation of power.

Mandaza told South Africa-based ANN7 television that the ZANU-PF would pursue that objective during a special party congress set to begin on December 1, Efe news reported.

He stressed that party members remain very grateful for the work that Mugabe, the founder of the ZANU-PF, did for Zimbabwe.

While Mugabe, 93, was a strong leader during his nearly four decades as the President, he faltered in recent months, Mandaza said while blaming “the influence of people who surrounded him”.

Jacob Mudenda, speaker of Zimbabwe’s Parliament, announced earlier on Tuesday that Mugabe had stepped down after 37 years in power.

In a letter read aloud by Mudenda, Mugabe insisted that he had resigned of his own free will a week after a military takeover which was compounded by the ZANU-PF’s decision to withdraw support for the long-serving leader amid a power struggle.

“I, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, in terms of section 96 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, hereby formally tender my resignation,” Mudenda said, reading the letter to cheers from members of parliament who had gathered to vote on the president’s impeachment.

Mudenda announced that a new leader would be named on Wednesday and most observers expect recently ousted Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa to replace Mugabe.

Mugabe had previously refused to resign despite last week’s military takeover and days of protests.

Mugabe, 93, led Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. He has won elections, but over the past 15 years these have been marred by violence against political opponents.

He has presided over a deepening economic crisis in Zimbabwe, where people are on average 15 per cent poorer now than they were in 1980.